Ask about Climate Change at the Presidential Debates

Millions of voters will get their information about the presidential candidates by watching the debates this fall.

After a summer where the effects of climate change have caused hardship for people across the county — from flooding in the Southeast to drought in the Midwest to the wildfires in Colorado, where the debate is being held — it’s critical that American voters learn what the candidates plan to do to address global warming. With your help, we can convince the moderators to ask the candidates about their plans to address the climate crisis and generate a substantive discussion about global warming on the national stage.

In your role as moderator of a presidential debate this year, you have the opportunity to ask questions about the most pressing issues facing our country. We urge you to ask President Obama and Governor Romney how they will confront the greatest challenge of our generation -- climate change.

This summer, the climate crisis fell right into America's front yards -- in some cases literally. With trees crashing through their windows, fires burning through their neighborhoods, water flooding under their doorsteps, and droughts destroying their crops, Americans have been hurting from the effects of weather extremes that climate scientists have predicted would happen as a result of global warming.

As renowned climate scientist James Hansen has explained, "It is no longer enough to say that global warming will increase the likelihood of extreme weather and to repeat the caveat that no individual weather event can be directly linked to climate change. To the contrary, our analysis shows that, for the extreme hot weather of the recent past, there is virtually no explanation other than climate change."

Climate change is happening and the effects will only get worse if our government does not take action soon. However, the only way we can make that happen is by educating voters about where their elected officials stand so that they consider our planet's future at the ballot box. Millions of voters will get their information about the presidential candidates by watching the debates this year. That gives you the responsibility to ensure that they know where the candidates stand on issues that will affect not only their own lives, but also their children and grandchildren's futures.

We hope you will use this opportunity to generate the substantive discussion about global warming on the national stage that our country needs to have right now. Thank you for considering this request and standing up for a cleaner, healthier future.